Seven walks, erratic fielding and one misguided adventure on the bases leave Toronto last in AL East before crowd of 43,390.

Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis hits the deck but hangs onto the ball after tagging out Brett Lawrie on an attempted steal of third in the eighth inning.

By:Brendan KennedySports Reporter, Published on Sat Jun 02 2012

The Blue Jays usually benefit from Brett Lawrie’s fiery play.

But as the 22-year-old third baseman continues to learn to harness his unbridled enthusiasm, his team will have to live with getting burned every now and then.

On Saturday against the Red Sox, with two out in the eighth inning and David Cooper representing the tying run at the plate, Lawrie tried to steal third on Red Sox reliever Vicente Padilla, but was thrown out by catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

“He’s got the green light, but at the same time in some situations we’ve got to shut him down and that’s on me,” said Jays manager John Farrell, who took responsibility for not restraining his player. “That’s on no one else.”

The Jays lost their second straight to Boston Saturday afternoon, 7-4 in front of a packed Rogers Centre crowd of 43,390.

Kyle Drabek allowed five runs on six hits and four walks, while the Jays fumbled in the field and failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position.

Farrell said he has no plans to “temper” Lawrie’s aggressiveness. “But in a situation where we’re down two runs, with a man on second in scoring position . . . if he’s going to want to attempt that bag, he’s got to make sure he’s going to walk in there. So I’ll take that one. I’ve got to shut him down right there.”

Lawrie didn’t think it was a case of aggressiveness getting the best of him, but more a matter of simply not making the right decision.

“Maybe not necessarily the best time to go,” he said. “But I thought I could get there and (Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis) fell right in front of the bag and cut off the way that I wanted to slide.”

Farrell called Saturday’s game a “case of some missed opportunities,” adding his team didn’t get clutch hits when needed. For the third straight game, the Jays struggled to do damage with runners on. They stranded a total of six runners on Saturday, eight on Friday and seven on Wednesday, and over the last three games are 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

Drabek’s outing was an improvement on the bashing he took in Texas on May 27, when he gave up nine runs on eight hits and three walks and was driven from the game after only three innings.

On Saturday, Drabek was undone by a rocky second inning in which Boston scored four runs on four consecutive two-out hits.

“Except for the second, I’m happy with it,” Drabek said. “I just had one bad inning. Two outs and I left the ball up to a few batters and they were able to hit ’em.”

Farrell said Drabek’s performance was an improvement, but still characterized his young starter as a “work in progress.”

“The learning curve can be steep at times for him,” Farrell said.

Consistency and control have been Drabek’s biggest stumbling blocks. His nearly six walks per nine innings rank second highest in the league, behind only Cleveland’s Ubaldo Jimenez.

Jays pitchers have combined to walk more batters than any other team. The seven free passes they gave up on Saturday give them 215 on the year, 14 more than second-worst San Diego Padres. The Red Sox, by comparison, have given up 180 walks.

Drabek was also felled by a little hard luck. Daniel Nava’s two-run single, which capped off the Red Sox’s second-inning rally, looked at first like a routine fly ball to centre field, before it knuckled sharply in front of Colby Rasmus, who couldn’t get a read on it.

Farrell said the sharp liner had top spin and sunk unexpectedly.

“We make a play on the sinking line drive, it’s a two-run game not a four-run game,” Farrell added.

Instead the Red Sox went up 4-0 and never looked back.

They added a fifth run in the fourth inning when Youkilis doubled off the wall in right and Yunel Escobar misjudged Jose Bautista’s throw to second, advancing to third on the play. He scored on a fielder’s choice two plays later.

The Jays were handed a gift in the eighth by right fielder Ryan Sweeney, who bungled a throw to the infield, allowing Edwin Encarnacion to score from first on a Lawrie single and bring the Jays to within two. But Lawrie’s steal attempt abruptly ended the Jays’ threat.

The Jays’ bullpen gave up two runs after Darren Oliver and Francisco Cordero conspired to allow a run on two walks and a hit in the eighth. Nick Punto then led off the ninth by plastering Carlos Villanueva’s 2-and-0 fastball into deep right field to restore the Red Sox three-run lead.

Catcher Jeff Mathis and Bautista homered in the losing cause.

Drew Hutchison (4-2, 4.84) will try to salvage the series for the Blue Jays on Sunday against Red Sox right-hander Daniel Bard (5-5, 4.56).

The Red Sox have won 15 of their last 22 games, going back to May 11, and moved into a tie for third in the division with the New York Yankees.

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